Month: August 2010

Advance orders are now being taken for INSPIRATIONS, the female fantasy sequel to HALLUCINATIONS. The limited signed hardcover of HALLUCINATIONS sold out before its street date. We expect the limited signed hardcover edition of INSPIRATIONS will sell out even faster than that! All INSPIRATIONS advance orders made through this site will receive a free original William Stout sketch inside each book!

INSPIRATIONS focuses on my loving portraits of the women in my fantastic realms. Be they winged and magical fairy folk, half-fish and sweetly salted mermaids, or even exotic denizens of that distant world called Barsoom, they are here. They and dozens more await you, the intrepid reader, in these pages. Each of them are as fair, fierce and fascinating—and as terribly dangerous and impossible to hold—as her companions.

Every one of these stunning visions is captured in ink-and-watercolor to best reveal the very life and likeness of the subjects in their full-blooded beauty. And, as is true of every release from Flesk Publications, the greatest care has been taken to achieve the highest reproduction quality of these muses—these dearest of William Stout’s INSPIRATIONS.

WAIT! There’s MORE! The introduction to INSPIRATIONS details the entire artistic process of how Stout creates a picture in what he calls his Rackham/Dulac ink-and-watercolor style. Stout reveals techniques whose secrets have been lost for over 100 years!

The hardbound edition is limited to 500 copies, plus 150 Artist’s Proofs. Exclusive to this edition is a bound-in full color plate reproducing an unpublished illustration. Each copy is numbered and signed. ORDER SOON — this will be the only hardcover edition of this book.

INSPIRATIONS is due in November — just in time for the holidays!

The boxes of the William Stout ZOMBIES! calendar arrived on my doorstep today! All copies purchased through the William Stout Bazaar (part of this website) will be signed by Yours Truly (unless you’re desperate to keep yours in absolutely mint sealed condition).

TWELVE full color zombie images, many of them holiday-themed, fill this 2011 calendar by Mr. Zombies-R-Us himself! Already declared to be one of the bestselling calendars of the year, my zombie graphics combined with my wicked sense of humor make for one of the coolest gift items to lurch its way down the pike in a long time! I even included “Famous Dates in Zombie History” throughout the calendar’s day listings. Now Available! Too much fun!

PLUS, this year’s William Stout–50 Convention Sketches book is now available! We’re up to Volume 16, for those of you who are keeping track.

Another classic in the William Stout 50 Convention Sketches series, this volume boasts a Barsoomian cover, more Edgar Rice Burroughs art inside, lots of new dinosaurs (of course!), plenty of fantasy illustrations, three new blues portraits, five CD covers (prior to coloring), a new Pablo Neruda poem translation and illustration, Bill’s sketchbook thumbnails, cool stuff from the Stout Archives, plus six illustrations for Wagner’s Ring Cycle.

Woo Hoo! It’s an annual tradition! Don’t miss it!

PAUL COLLINS King Of Power Pop! comes out today on CD, LP, and in digital form.

“Paul Collins has cut a handful of fine records since the breakup of the Beat, but King of Power Pop! is the first one in ages that captures the tough, upbeat sound of his most memorable work, and it proves the man hasn’t lost his touch for writing tight, hooky tunes with killer hooks and energetic guitar figures.”
— Mark Deming / AMG

“Paul Collins was one of the pioneers of the power-pop genre, playing with bands such as Nerves, the Breakaways and the Beat. Now, he returns to his roots with the release of the aptly titled King Of Power Pop!”
— Magnet

“(Paul Collins) new album is called King of Power Pop! and it takes guts to go with that title, but Collins has the chops to back it up.”

— The Washington Post

One of the recent events in my life I’ve been dying to share with you is my acting debut in a short film entitled Lucky Day. The film was written, directed and produced by my talented friend Samantha Holmes.

Sam did an amazing job on all three counts. She was as organized as any producer or director I’ve ever worked with in my thirty-plus years in the film biz. She was unbelievably efficient as both a producer and director. She kept things moving without making it feel like we were being rushed. She not only anticipated the cast and crew’s needs, but our comforts as well. And through all of that, directing and producing a low budget film all at the same time, she remained consistently cheerful and upbeat.

In the film I play Frank, a mean (yet sometimes charming), bad-ass mofo who has just killed Tony, the boyfriend of Darla (played by the wonderful actress Melina Bielefelt), a gal that Frank picked up at a bar. They’ve absconded with Tony’s recent inheritance. And that’s where the film begins…

We shot the movie in the heat of the Yucca Valley desert. Fortunately, it was not the triple digits that were expected. It was “only” in the 90s. The cast and crew were real troupers! I did all of my own driving; Sam promised me a “Stunt Driver” credit in addition to my acting credit!

One unexpected difficulty I hadn’t considered: acting while actually driving. I have a hard enough time remembering my lines as it is! Usually for driving scenes in movies the actor’s car is stationary on the back of a flat bed truck. The truck then travels, giving the illusion that the actor is driving. The actor just pretends to drive.

I hooked Sam up with Roger Lay, Jr., who functioned as Sam’s DP (director of photography). Roger was amazing and infectiously enthusiastic. He brought his friend Steve Mcatee to do our sound recording. Steve’s a tough ol’ guy who gave me my greatest compliment during the shoot: “You’re so damn good, I hate you.”

My dear friend, the irrepressible costume designer extraordinaire (Reba, The Nanny) Terry Gordon, provided us with absolutely perfect costuming choices. She raided the Warner Brothers costume department to get me snakeskin boots, faded black jeans, a gray wifebeater, and a sleeveless plaid shirt, as well as Darla’s perfect cherry dress and red shoes. She also provided me with skull tattoos for my knuckles, cool rings, a tooth necklace, black leather wrist and watch bands, a blue pocket kerchief, and a wallet with a clip and chain. Weeks ago I began growing out my sideburns and moustache. Four days before the shoot I stopped shaving, so I had a really nice, scruffy look (see photos). I didn’t wash my hair two days prior to the shoot, then greased it up a bit more with some styling mousse.

It was an incredible learning experience for me. I respect the difficulty of what actors have to do even more than I did before.

I found that I had a natural affinity for taking direction. After delivering some lines, Sam would sometimes come to me with careful, precise advice as to how she wanted me to alter the lines for the next take (she was smart enough not to do a line reading for me). To my own amazement (and to the relief, I’m sure, and delight of Sam), I found myself speaking the lines completely differently, in exactly the way Sam wanted.

The film is being edited now. Roger (who is quite the consummate filmmaker himself) was extremely pleased with the results. He suggested that Sam enter her film into several film festivals. Our little movie should be finished by mid-September. If there’s a YouTube posting, I’ll let you all know.

What an experience! Way fun! I can’t wait to do it again! Sam promised she was going to cast me in all her movies. She said my next role should be as an elegant, debonair sophisticate, to show my range. You got it, Sam!

I’ve been woefully absent from my Journal as of late. I’ve been unbelievably busy…I’ll try to update you on all of my recent projects (including my first starring role in a film!) on a daily basis over the next week or so.

One thing that can’t wait, however: Tonight is the opening of Menagerie – The Art of Animals, an exhibition I co-curated for the Forest Lawn Museum in Glendale (1712 South Glendale Avenue, near San Fernando Road, 91205).

It’s an incredible group show depicting different artists’ interpretations of the animal kingdom. The list of artists includes myself, of course (that step-by-step painting from recent Journal entries is the invitation image, billboard image and catalog cover for the exhibition. Come see the original painting in person!), but also Drew Struzan, Peter Brooke, Iain McCaig, Andreas Deja, Steve Kutcher, Antoine Louis Barye, Paul Bransom, Charles Livingston Bull, Marc Davis, Henri Deluermoz, Edward Detmold, Pete Graziano, Doris Hardoon, Louis Paul Jonas, Leon Joosen, Paul Jouve, Charles R. Knight, Harry Rountree, Charles Russell, John Sibbick, Tyrus Wong and Sirio Tofanari.

Visionary curator Joan Adan has turned the Forest Lawn Museum into the hippest and one of the most important art venues in L. A. Recent shows have included a Tiki show, a Goya show, a Winslow Homer show, a huge exhibition of fantasy art and a one man show on Disney legend Marc Davis. Their permanent collection boasts one of the finest Bouguereau paintings in existence. Get on their mailing list!

The opening reception is from 6:00 – 8:00 PM. Please RSVP (323/340-4792), as there will be wine and hors d’oeuvres served. This museum also has the finest, most romantic view in all of Los Angeles, so bring your sweetheart. The exhibition will be up until January 2, 2011.

I’ll give a (very) brief speech at 6:30 PM.

I hope to see you all there!

I look forward to seeing all of my friends and fans today from 2:00–4:00 PM at my Dark Delicacies signing. It’s double-trouble, as I’ll be signing copies of Hallucinations AND my 2011 ZOMBIES! calendar.

Check “Appearances” on this site for complete information.

See you there!